Apr 13, 20217 min read

Why Hello, Midwest

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is having an incredible week so far. We have had a busy but exciting week for sure.

We made it to Indy! After driving through GA and Kentucky, of course. Admittedly, "Lincoln's Boyhood Home" seems like an odd thing to add to a welcome sign by hey, you do you, Indiana.

So far, Indianapolis has been treating us very well. We rented an incredible place right in Fletcher Place or Fountain Square, perhaps both. Some people say one, some say the other. Some signs say one, some say the other. You would think Fountain Square would be where the big fountain is in downtown Indy. The one Cody wanted to tell you something at per the picture below, but apparently, it's not. Either way, we are in a great area, one block from some great distilleries, breweries, restaurants, coffee shops. Pretty much everything you can ask for. And man is this place dog-friendly! The pups have really been enjoying it so far. Should I get on with it now?

Vaccine!

It should go without saying, the choice to get the vaccine is yours, and there are risks either way. The good thing about being an adult is that you get to make the decisions that impact you. For us, we were lucky enough to get our first dose of the vaccine last week! One more shot and about 5 more weeks and we will be fully vaccinated. Celebrate!

Drinks!

There are so many distilleries and breweries here, it has been hard to pick where to go! So far, we have been impressed with each of the places we have visited.

Hotel Tango

Hotel Tango is actually the first combat-disabled, veteran-owned distillery in the nation. They make a plethora of spirits including Bourbon, Reserve Bourbon, Rye Whiskey, Vodka, Gin, Wild Rum, Cherry Liquor, Orangecello, and Lemoncello. There are two areas to sit inside. One reminded me of the comfortable living room of a cabin near a ski resort and the other section was more trendy rustic. There are also two areas to sit outside, one in front of the distillery and the other along the right side of the building. That side doubles as a dog park, you can take your dog there to play with his furry friends all while being entirely fenced in. Super cool.

The drinks had creative names and all sounded incredible. It was really hard to decide! I ended up getting the "Blockbuster Raised Me" which was pear vodka, lime juice, aquafaba and watermelon simple. Eric ended up getting "The Midnight Society" which included bourbon, maple syrup and black walnut bitters. For those that don't know aquafaba is made out of chickpea water and makes all kinds of things, including vegan meringue. I found aquafaba years ago and always try to order anything that has it. Needless to say, the drinks were delicious; we will certainly be back! Added bonus that this is a block from where we are staying!

1205 Distillery

Just a couple blocks up the street is 1205 Distillery which was named for the date Prohibition was repealed, is a small batch distillery and cocktail bar. They make artisan vodka, new American gin, rhubarb liquor, four-finger rye whiskey, white on the line wheat whiskey and straight bourbon. They also have indoor and outdoor seating. The atmosphere inside was very different from Hotel Tango and sort of reminded me of an Irish pub. The bartenders are friendly and talented and there is a greek pizza place attached. We didn't end up getting any pizza, but I really wanted to, it smelled incredible.

1205 also had pretty incredible drink names like "The Vaccine", "The Anvil", "Bermuda Triangle" and "Giggle Water". I ended up ordering "Blossoming" which was a gin drink with elderflower, hibiscus lemon and lavender. Eric went the safe route with a bourbon manhattan. They were both perfect flavorwise; it was hard not to order another round. AND came in the most amazing gravity-defying glasses. I poked them a lot, they DO NOT SPILL! You can also buy 5 gallons of hand sanitizer for $100 so there is that.

The Exchange Whiskey Bar

We decided to check out The Exchange Whiskey Bar on a Friday night, fully realizing we wouldn't stay if there was a crowd. I'm happy to report they take social distancing very seriously and turned away a significant amount of people that were trying to get a seat. We walked in at the perfect time and got two comfy swivel chairs. We loved the atmosphere of The Exchange. They sell themselves as "having over 450 of the best whiskey's you can find anywhere in the country. [And having] vintage speakeasy cocktails based on authentic prohibition-era style recipes. There was no outside at The Exchange but there was an upstairs and a downstairs. We liked the upstairs better for a Friday night, it was more trendy prohibition with the downstairs being more comfy, living room prohibition.

In keeping the tradition of great names, I started with the Cheshire Cat which had hibiscus, vanilla and dry Italian Malfy Gin and Eric started with "Don't Tell Lies in Heaven" that had Rye, Bourbon, smoked amaro, cherry and vanilla bitters. Mine was a little sweet for my liking but still good nonetheless, which I knew before I ordered it but needed to try it anyway. I may or may not have made Eric order his based on the name alone but the good news is, he loved it. We decided to order a second drink to split and went with the "Plum Reader". Described as "the French 75 of your dreams", this drink included Malfy Gin as a base with muddled plum and thyme. Delicious.

Not one place has let us down yet, we are truly impressed Indianapolis!

Ohio!

So this is the beautiful picture I took of the "Welcome to Ohio" sign. Won't win any awards for this one folks.

Keeping with our tradition of trying to visit as many states as we can, we used a rainy Saturday to make the drive to Cincinnati, Ohio. The drive is about an hour and a half from Indy, unless a big rig starts on fire and the entire cab melts, like the entire cab, so you wait, and sit in non-moving traffic for an hour and a half on the way back. In any case, we didn't have any plans other than checking out a couple of the sites and singing the Cincinnati song from Babes in Toyland (the Keanu and Drew version - only one that matters).

Though we weren't there long, we did get to see some pretty cool sites! The Cincinnati Reds Stadium is right in the middle of downtown and looks like a great place to watch a game. We will be back when we do our stadium tour for sure!

Roebling Bridge

The Roebling Bridge officially opened on January 1, 1867. 1867! That's 154 years ago for those that don't like mental math. At the time, its 1,075-foot span made it the longest bridge in the world. There is a ton of great information in the link above. Usually, you can walk across the bridge but it was closed when we were there. Huge bummer, we all know how much I like bridges. Add it to the list for when we are back for a Reds game! Surrounding the bridge was a nice park and walkway along the water. The dogs wondered what in the hell we were doing walking in the pouring rain, and I for once didn't lose it because my clothes were wet. Progress or mesmerized by the bridge? Who knows.

There were a lot of cool bridges by the way, but this was my fav.

Mushroom House

It's pretty much a given that if there is a place called "Mushroom House" I'm going to go to it. The house has had a lot of hype over the years. Travel Magazine even did a great feature on it with videos of the inside. Worth the drive-by? Totally, even though without it we wouldn't have gotten stuck in all that traffic!

Indy 500 Museum!

Sheesh, it's hard to spell museum. Why isn't there an a?! There should be an a. Moving on. Sunday was rainy but we were still able to get in a VIP Tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Our tour brought us for a lap around the track, an opportunity to see the yard of bricks (and perform the tradition of kissing the bricks - though I politely declined that part), stepping on the winner's podium, and a tour of the Pagoda which reaches 153 feet and is equal to a 13 story building.

Ready for some fun facts!

The first race was in 1911.
With the speed of the cars, you can cover a football field in 9 tenths of a second.
238 mph is currently the top speed
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway can hold 350,000 people, which is the population of the city of Cincinnati or the entire country of Iceland.
In a span of 63 days in 1909, bricks were laid on the entire speedway to upgrade the crushed tar and rock. In 1937, the majority of the track was paved except for the middle portion of the front straightaway, the "yard of bricks". The bricks are still there under the asphalt.
The fastest lap clocked in at 237 mph by Arie Luyendyk in 1996.
All the cars are the same. Same engine, same gas, same $40,000 steering wheel.

In the picture on the right below, we are standing in the actual place winners celebrate!

The museum itself had a whole section of Indy 500 winners. The yellow car on the left is the first-ever Indy 500 winner in 1911. For the cost and wealth of information, this museum is definitely worth going to even if you don't know much about the sport like us. I'll tell you, I def want to come back for the Indy 500 race now!